by Jake Bible
“It did,” Nick said and refocused on the harbor image. “Back to the mines. Quantum detonators. Crazy shit. No way our ship will get through there without being blown to fucking bits.”
“Then why choose this route?” Kinsey asked. “Can’t you approach from the opposite side of the island?”
“Oh, gee, I never thought of that,” Nick scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Here. Let me show you why that won’t work.”
He zoomed out and spun the image one hundred and eighty degrees. Then he flipped his hand and the island turned on its side, becoming a head-on view instead of an overhead view.
“Nice trick,” Kinsey said.
“See those poles there?” Nick said, zooming in on a set of poles that stood about fifty meters high and were spaced about fifty meters apart. “Nothing gets past those poles. Whether coming from the outside or inside. Nothing gets past them and they ring the entire island.”
“Except for the harbor,” Aubrey said.
“True,” Nick said.
“They look like fence poles,” Kinsey said. “And that looks like fencing. Two rows of it. So…? What do the poles do? What makes them so special?”
“They destroy you,” Nick said. “The fences are electrified on a whole other level. The poles actually draw energy from the Earth’s magnetic field and turn that energy into an electricity that defies AC/DC logic. The fences don’t merely shock; they disintegrate anything that touches them down to the molecular level.”
“Wouldn’t it be sub-molecular level?” Kinsey asked.
“Smart ass,” Nick replied. “Whatever the science is, you die. Everything dies.”
“What is Wire keeping on that island?” Kinsey asked. “You don’t create fencing like that if you’re simply trying to keep folks out. That’s a keep shit in fence system too.”
Aubrey and Nick shared a look.
“What?” Kinsey pressed. “Tell me.”
“The dead,” Nick said. “Thousands of them.”
“The dead?” Kinsey laughed. Neither Aubrey nor Nick joined her. “You’re shitting me? What the fuck does that even mean?”
“Before you start thinking zombies, let me stop you there,” Aubrey said. “Not zombies. This isn’t some Night of the Living Dead scenario. No virus or contagion. If one of them bites you, all that’s going to happen is a lot of pain and blood. You aren’t turning into anything undead.”
“Zombies is probably an accurate description,” Nick said.
“Which is it?” Kinsey asked. “Zombies or not zombies?”
“Zombies in the original Haitian sense,” Nick said. “They are corpses, for sure, but they’re controlled by a central processing unit that is implanted in their brains. The CPU handles all autonomic tasks and also give the things focus. They are mindless killers that roam the island like rotting guard dogs. Hell, I think that crazy woman actually is using dead guard dogs too.”
“Among other creatures that have died on the island or she’s killed and brought back,” Aubrey said. “You shouldn’t be too surprised to find some familiar creatures lurching about. Hopefully, though, you won’t encounter any of them. They are nasty. In this climate, they literally are rotting away as they shamble around. Wire keeps the killing floor going twenty-four seven to replenish them.”
“The killing floor?” Kinsey asked.
“She has her people go out and raid third world coastlines for bodies,” Aubrey said. “She wipes out entire villages and brings back the corpses to use. From what intel we’ve gathered, it sounds like she has an entire refrigerated hangar on that island to keep the bodies that haven’t been adapted yet. It’s messed up.”
“Yeah, it’s all messed up. Which is why we come in knocking at the front door,” Nick said. “With the new armor, our people should be able to slip into the harbor at night and navigate the mines without setting them off.”
“How is that?” Kinsey asked.
“We’ll get to the tech details later,” Aubrey said. “For now, you get the abridged attack plan.”
“Half our people slip through the water, get ashore, and go for the main command center,” Nick said. “We are going to take casualties. That’s a fact.”
“Wish it wasn’t,” Aubrey said.
“We’ve been over this,” Nick grumbled. “I am keeping the death toll to a minimum, but there is no way we can get ashore without taking heat. That Hill guy knows his stuff. If we are one hundred percent lucky, we’ll touch ground without being detected. Odds are slim. That means we’ll take heavy fire as we leave the water and proceed to the command center. No way around it.”
“That why you’re only sending half the men and women?” Kinsey asked.
“That’s part of it, yes,” Nick said. “We also need a good amount of operators onboard the Fallback in case of a counter attack. Like I said, Sterling Hill is good. He could allow our shore forces to get a ways onto the island on purpose then take the Fallback and cut us off from any type of retreat. That’s what I would do. So half of the operators stay to fight him off if he makes that play.”
“Sounds solid,” Kinsey said. “Then what?”
“Then what what?” Nick asked.
“If you get to the command center, then what? What’s the end goal of all of this?” Kinsey said.
“We kill Wire, take over the island, and Ballantine does whatever Ballantine does,” Nick said. “That’s up to that crazy SOB. Our job is to secure the island for him and remove the Wire threat, plus her disgusting security measures. After that, I don’t care. I’m going home to a family that I haven’t seen in over a decade.”
Kinsey nodded then cocked her head. “Wait, what new armor? You mean the stuff the elves were arguing about? On the Toyshop which isn’t here?”
Aubrey and Nick shared a look.
“That’s a wrinkle in the plan,” Aubrey admitted. “One we’re working on right now. I’ll talk to you about it later.”
“Alright…” Kinsey frowned.
“You want to know anything else? Or are you good until we are ready to launch the op?” Nick asked. “Because I have a fuck ton of work to do, if you two don’t mind. I also need to ice my nuts for a while.”
Kinsey smirked.
“Come on, Ms. Thorne. I’ll introduce you to the others,” Aubrey said.
“They as fun as Nick here?” Kinsey said, her smirk widening.
“No one is as fun as me,” Nick said.
***
“Gene Row, good to meet you,” Gene said as he stood up from his console and offered his hand. “Anyone that has survived this long in the company of Ballantine deserves a handshake.”
Kinsey took the hand, gave it a shake, then began studying the room.
The room was small, more of a glorified closet jammed from floor to ceiling, wall to wall, with electronic equipment. Monitors, keyboards, switchboards, a couple of joysticks, something that glowed blue and gave off a faint hum, and more blinking lights than Kinsey could stand. She thought she might develop a migraine like the ones Darren got if she had to stay too long in the cramped space.
“Gene is in charge of systems,” Aubrey stated.
“What systems?” Kinsey asked.
“All of them,” Gene said. “If it is a system, I handle it. In the technological sense. I don’t handle biology like Tom does. Or military strategy like Nick. I certainly do not handle strike ops like Delana.”
“Strike ops?” Kinsey asked.
“You’ll meet Delana shortly,” Aubrey said. “Gene? Can you give Kinsey a quick run through of what you do and what the ship is capable of?”
“You bet,” Gene said happily. “First, you have to understand that while the Fallback doesn’t look like much from the outside, her insides are nothing but state of the art. This ship has next-gen tech that even impresses Ballantine. Not much does that, you know.”
“Yeah, I know,” Kinsey said.
“The ship’s hull is outfitted with a special paint that can keep it off radar,” Gene s
aid. “The paint also allows light refraction, so satellite’s trying to track us are going to see a shiny patch in the middle of a shiny ocean. Unless the satellite is specifically tasked to zoom in on us and study us closely, ninety percent of the passes will result in zero detection.”
“How hard do you think Wire is looking for us?” Kinsey asked.
Gene glanced at Aubrey and shrugged. “No way to know. None of us have reason to suspect that she even knows we’re out here. My feelings are that if she did, she would have tried to take us out by now. Bring the fight to the open sea. I believe Nick feels the same way.”
“Nick doesn’t disagree,” Aubrey said.
“That’s saying a lot,” Kinsey said.
“Ah, you met Nick,” Gene said, laughing. “Yes, he does have some very strong opinions and doesn’t hesitate to voice them.”
“That’s putting it mildly,” Kinsey said. “But we saw eye to eye at the end.”
“She nut punched him,” Aubrey said.
Gene’s eyes widened.
“Not gonna nut punch you,” Kinsey said and smiled. “You seem to be a guy that doesn’t mind talking without trying to prove yourself.”
“Oh, I love to talk,” Gene said. “On many different subjects.”
“Let’s keep it to systems for now,” Aubrey said.
“Right. Yes,” Gene agreed.
He took a breath then dove into explaining to Kinsey the different systems of the ship. From the incredible ship-wide surveillance to the propulsion system that allowed the Fallback to utilize the ocean’s natural rhythms and save fuel. The ship could travel the globe without needing to refuel once. If parameters were optimal. Nominal parameters meant that refueling wasn’t a huge priority, but still needed, if only occasionally.
Gene went over desalination and even waste management. Kinsey learned a lot about the ship’s sewage system. More than she wanted to know, but she hated to interrupt Gene. After the confrontation with Nick, he was refreshing to be around. Reminded Kinsey of dealing with the elves, minus Carlos’s asshole snark. She had a feeling Gene would fit right in with the Ingrid and Moshi.
“How are we coming with our search?” Aubrey asked.
“Ah, yes, that,” Gene said and glanced at Kinsey. “Does she know?”
“Know what?” Kinsey asked.
“That I have sent probes out to locate your former ship’s tech workshop,” Gene said.
“You’re looking for the Toyshop? How?” Kinsey asked. “We’re nowhere near where the B3 went down.”
“See these monitors?” Gene said and pointed at two screens. “This one is an overview of the entire search area, which is quite extensive, by the way. We are leaving no wave unturned. This one is probe to ship feeds. I can dial in a specific probe and see what it sees in real time. Or as close to real time as the transmission allows.”
“Have you found anything yet?” Kinsey asked.
“Not yet, no,” Gene said sadly. “Well, that’s not entirely true…”
He switched his attention to the monitor with the overall view. He zoomed in on a specific area and Aubrey groaned. Kinsey stared at the image until she realized what she was looking at.
“Is that a ship?” Kinsey asked.
“It is,” Gene said. “One of Wire’s. It’s small, maybe only a quarter of the size of the Fallback, but I am getting some no fun energy readings off of it by a couple of my probes in the vicinity. The ship is small, but it probably packs a punch.”
“So we’re in a race to find the Toyshop,” Kinsey said.
A loud beeping emitted from the probe monitor. Gene gasped.
“We got it! We have the Toyshop!” he exclaimed. Then his eyes went to the overview monitor and he groaned. “I think they do too. Crap. They’re changing directions and heading straight for where the signal is coming from.”
“How far away are we?” Aubrey asked as she yanked open the door with one hand and grabbed Kinsey’s arm with the other.
“Maybe an hour? We’re so close,” Gene said. “But they’re closer. They’ll reach the spot in twenty minutes.”
“Engine room? This is Captain Haskel,” Aubrey called into her com. “I want full power. Push those engines into the red. Use the accelerator, if you have to.”
“Accelerator?” Kinsey asked, but Aubrey shook her head and kept talking.
“Good,” Aubrey said. “I’m heading to the bridge now.” She pressed her ear twice. “Kalis? Call the Toyshop. I know, I know, but they’re going to be discovered in about twenty minutes anyway. Tell them that. I want that floating box to have all defenses in place so they can buy us a little time before we get there. Got all that? Good. See ya in a second.”
“What now?” Kinsey asked. “I want to talk to my friends.”
“That’s a good idea,” Aubrey said. “We head to the bridge so you can talk to them then you meet Delana. If we’re going to engage one of Wire’s ships, then we’ll need Delana ready to go. Gene?”
“Yes?” Gene asked, his eyes glued to his monitors.
“Can you jam their communications so they can’t call Wire when we show up? Last thing we need is for our little surprise attack to be blown,” Aubrey said.
“If you can get me within sight of that ship, then I can make sure they can barely communicate standing next to each other, let alone with Wire and her people back on the island,” Gene said, a huge smile spreading across his face. “Not a problem.”
“Perfect,” Aubrey said. “Initiate all of that then transfer your controls to the station on the bridge.”
“This set up really is ideal—”
“Gene? Did I ask for an argument?”
“No, Captain, you did not,” Gene replied. “I’ll transfer controls to my station on the bridge.” He sighed. “Give me a few minutes.”
“Hurry,” Aubrey said. “Come on, Ms. Thorne. The job never slows and it never, ever stops.”
Chapter Eleven: What The Actual Blipping Bleep?
“Uh, what am I seeing?” Lucy asked. “Hey, Ingrid? Moshi?”
“You don’t want to call me?” Carlos asked as he walked up behind Lucy, who was seated in front of the control console for the Toyshop. “I know this better than either of them.”
“Can you interact without being a complete dick?” Lucy asked.
Carlos opened his mouth, closed it, opened it, closed it, then nodded. “Yeah. I can interact without being a complete dick.”
“Great,” Lucy said and pointed at a blip on one of the console’s screens. “Then tell me what that is?”
“That?” Carlos leaned closer and peered at the screen. He started to push Lucy out of the seat then froze. “Uh, may I sit?”
“You just made a wise choice,” Lucy said as she stood up and vacated the seat. “You were about half a second from losing that hand.”
Carlos sat down without comment and studied the blip along with a column of streaming data on the screen next to it. He leaned as far forward as he could, his nose almost touching glass.
“Do you need glasses or something?” Lucy asked.
“If I can’t make comments, then you cannot either,” Carlos snapped then cleared his throat. “I mean, give me some space, please.”
Lucy studied Carlos for a second as the man studied the screens before him.
“Carlos? Are you alright?” Lucy asked.
“Huh? What? Yes. Yes, of course I’m alright. What are you babbling about?” Carlos responded.
“Yeah, you don’t seem alright. You said…please. To me. A stupid shooter. You said please,” Lucy pressed. “That is not very Carlos like.”
“Listen, are you going to stand there and jabber on about stupid shit or are you going to be quiet and let me work?” Carlos asked. “Huh? Which is it?”
“I’ll let you work,” Lucy said.
Carlos grunted and continued to read the data. Then he slowly looked back over his shoulder at Lucy.
“Are you really going to stand there?” he asked.
Carlos glared. Lucy glared back. The two stayed that way for several moments before Carlos huffed and returned to the screens.
“Fine,” Lucy said. “I’ll go see how everyone else is doing.”
“You do that,” Carlos grunted as she walked back into the stacks of shelves.
Popeye and Cougher were busy playing a card game. Lucy had no idea what game it was, but she saw Cougher palm and switch a card as she strolled by their spot.
“Where you headed?” Popeye asked, turning to look at Lucy.
“Checking on everyone,” Lucy said. “You may want to pay attention to your game there, Popeye. It’s getting away from you.”
“Hardly,” Popeye replied. “I have a strategy and I stick to it.”
Cougher met Lucy’s eye and gave her a wink and a smile.
“At least you aren’t playing for money,” Lucy said as she continued on.
Two stacks over, Boris was seated on the floor, his hands gesticulating wildly as he told some story to Dr. Morganton who was looking like she was close to snapping or having a stroke.
“Boris, maybe you should let Dr. Morganton get some rest?” Lucy suggested. “You’ve been telling stories for hours now.”
“Oh, no, she loves my stories. Right, Lisa?” Boris replied. He didn’t wait for Dr. Morganton to answer. “Oh, yes, she loves my stories. You know, a lot of my genetic engineering work has roots in bioalternative science. I am not saying that my research was specifically influenced by any one project of Dr. Morganton’s, but I am saying that sometimes I would hear of her breakthroughs and they would inspire me to try something different with my genetic work.”
“I think being inspired is the very definition of influence, Boris,” Dr. Morganton said quietly.
“Dr. Morganton? Lisa? Are you alright?” Lucy asked.
“No, Lucy,” Dr. Morganton answered. “I am not a fan of being trapped inside this space. Claustrophobia isn’t something I have suffered from, but being stranded inside this workshop is beginning to be a little…trying.”
“I understand,” Lucy said, shooting a glance at Boris. “Maybe you want to take a walk with me, Boris? I’m going around and checking on everyone.”